The Albany Gazette - The SMX-CETI Alliance That Can Bankrupt Fashion Fakes (NASDAQ: SMX)

That's what makes the announced collaboration between SMX (NASDAQ:SMX) and CETI, one of Europe's premier textile research centers, so much more than another sustainability headline. By embedding molecular identity into fibers and pairing it with blockchain-backed digital passports, they're not just policing counterfeits or checking ESG boxes. They're turning sustainability itself into a financial instrument. Proof is no longer a burden. It's currency.

Consider the implications. A luxury brand that can prove every recycled fiber in its new collection isn't just avoiding fines or pleasing regulators. It's unlocking access to sustainability-linked financing. Loans, credits, and investor capital increasingly flow toward companies with measurable impact. With SMX and CETI, "measurable" stops being theoretical. It becomes real-time, tamper-proof, and auditable. Proof of circularity transforms from a marketing claim into a balance-sheet advantage.

From Compliance to Capital

This is the financial revolution hiding in the threads. For decades, recycled textiles struggled to gain traction at scale because brands couldn't verify content, financiers couldn't price risk, and consumers couldn't trust the label. Counterfeiters exploited the gaps and flooded markets with fakes that blurred lines even further. But a fiber carrying its own digital passport changes everything. Suddenly, the recycled material commands its true market value. Banks can tie financing rates to verified impact. Consumers can shop knowing the proof sits inside the product, not on a hangtag. And regulators finally have enforceable data instead of glossy pledges.

Platforms like eBay prove how critical this shift could be. To their credit, eBay has put stringent rules in place to weed out counterfeit listings and protect buyers. The intent is clear, but rules alone haven't been enough. As fakes become more convincing, human graders squint long and hard at photos, and consumers still roll the dice on whether a $150 "new with tags" Louis Vuitton bag is a bargain or a scam. Replace that guesswork with scanners reading SMX's molecular markers, and the equation flips. Authentication takes seconds. Proof isn't argued, it's scanned. Suddenly, resale platforms aren't just marketplaces, they're trust engines capable of monetizing verification itself. Higher prices, higher commissions.

The ripple effect stretches across the ecosystem. Sportswear giants can command premiums for recycled fabrics that are verified at the molecular level. Luxury houses can tie their ESG reports to data that withstands audit scrutiny. Technical fabric suppliers can shorten the lab-to-market cycle because proof is embedded from the first run of the pilot line. Even industrial textiles benefit, because verifiable circularity opens the door to compliance incentives and new forms of financing. Proof doesn't just defend value, it creates it.

Lille as the Launch Pad

Europe, with its Digital Product Passport ideology, is the proving ground. CETI in Lille is now the epicenter where laboratory breakthroughs meet industrial validation. By working with SMX, CETI is fast-tracking the pathway from research to real-world adoption. That means every fabric tested in Lille isn't just an experiment; it's a financial prototype. Each verified thread signals to investors, regulators, and brands that circularity is no longer a charitable endeavor. It's commerce.

This is where the counterfeiters finally get buried. Their empire was built on opacity, on products that looked authentic but carried no verifiable truth. In a market where proof is the price tag, fakes lose all economic value. They can't enter financing systems, can't clear regulatory checkpoints, and can't compete with brands that turn verification into an asset class. The counterfeit industry isn't just under attack. It's being written out of the balance sheet.

Fashion has always been about staying ahead of the curve. SMX and CETI are moving it beyond curves and into code, where every fiber is a ledger entry, every recycled material is a line item, and every product carries the ultimate credential: proof. Logos built the last generation of billion-dollar brands. Proof will be their sustainer.

About SMX

As global businesses face new and complex challenges relating to carbon neutrality and meeting new governmental and regional regulations and standards, SMX is able to offer players along the value chain access to its marking, tracking, measuring and digital platform technology to transition more successfully to a low-carbon economy.

Forward-Looking Statements

The information in this press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words "anticipate," "believe," "contemplate," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "intends," "may," "will," "might," "plan," "possible," "potential," "predict," "project," "should," "would" and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements in this press release may include, for example: matters relating to the Company's fight against abusive and possibly illegal trading tactics against the Company's stock; successful launch and implementation of SMX's joint projects with manufacturers and other supply chain participants of gold, steel, rubber and other materials; changes in SMX's strategy, future operations, financial position, estimated revenues and losses, projected costs, prospects and plans; SMX's ability to develop and launch new products and services, including its planned Plastic Cycle Token; SMX's ability to successfully and efficiently integrate future expansion plans and opportunities; SMX's ability to grow its business in a cost-effective manner; SMX's product development timeline and estimated research and development costs; the implementation, market acceptance and success of SMX's business model; developments and projections relating to SMX's competitors and industry; and SMX's approach and goals with respect to technology. These forward-looking statements are based on information available as of the date of this press release, and current expectations, forecasts and assumptions, and involve a number of judgments, risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing views as of any subsequent date, and no obligation is undertaken to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date they were made, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws. As a result of a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties, actual results or performance may be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Some factors that could cause actual results to differ include: the ability to maintain the listing of the Company's shares on Nasdaq; changes in applicable laws or regulations; any lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on SMX's business; the ability to implement business plans, forecasts, and other expectations, and identify and realize additional opportunities; the risk of downturns and the possibility of rapid change in the highly competitive industry in which SMX operates; the risk that SMX and its current and future collaborators are unable to successfully develop and commercialize SMX's products or services, or experience significant delays in doing so; the risk that the Company may never achieve or sustain profitability; the risk that the Company will need to raise additional capital to execute its business plan, which may not be available on acceptable terms or at all; the risk that the Company experiences difficulties in managing its growth and expanding operations; the risk that third-party suppliers and manufacturers are not able to fully and timely meet their obligations; the risk that SMX is unable to secure or protect its intellectual property; the possibility that SMX may be adversely affected by other economic, business, and/or competitive factors; and other risks and uncertainties described in SMX's filings from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

EMAIL: [email protected]

SOURCE: SMX (Security Matters) Public Limited

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

(M.Scott--TAG)